Pink Piggy CupCakes
You can’t get much cuter than a plateful of these pink piggies sitting on the tea table. Except perhaps a gang of mini-farmers in checked shirts and matching overalls! So why not go with the animal theme and throw a farmyard tea party? Decorating these cupcakes is a little fiddly, but the final result is well worth the effort!
PINK PIGGY CUPCAKES
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperture
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
to decorate
- red food coloring
- 13 oz. ready to roll fondant icing
- 2 tablespoons rasberry jelly, sieved
- dark purple or black food paste coloring
a 12 cup cupcake pan, lined with paper liners
three cookie cutters, one about the same size as your cupcake liners, one slightly smaller, and one very small. makes 12
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in, then stir in the vanilla extract and milk.
Spoon the mixture into the paper liners and bake in the preheated oven for about 17 minutes until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To decorate, add a couple of drops of red food coloring to the fondant icing and knead until well blended to make a pale pink icing. Roll out the icing between two sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap to about 1/4 inch thick. Stamp out 12 rounds using the largest cookie cutter. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the cupcakes with jelly and gently press the pink rounds on top.
Using the scraps, roll out 12 rounds with the medium-sized cookie cutter, brush one side with water, and stick onto the cupcakes. Then with the smallest cutter, stamp out 12 rounds of icing and brush one side with water. Place in the center of each cupcake to make a nose and press gently in place. Using a round skewer, make two round holes next to each other for nostrils.
Using the remaining scraps of icing, cut out 24 small oval shapes for ears then brush the back of each lightly with water and fix two in place on top of each piggy’s head, turning the tips of the ears up slightly. Roll a little icing into the corkscrew tails and stick on.
Dip the flat end of a wooden skewer in the purple or black paste coloring. Dab two eyes above the nose, then draw a little mouth under the nose. Voila!
